NEW YORK — It doesn’t always have to be a home run. Giancarlo Stanton hit a hard ground-ball single up the middle in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Yankees rallied to beat the Orioles, 4-3, at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
The Yankees (78-56) pulled out their ninth walk-off win this season and their second straight after losing four straight. It was the 49th game the Yankees have pulled out by two runs or less this season.
And this was one they really had to win.
The Orioles (41-92) came into the game with the worst record in the major leagues. The Yankees are 9-5 against them. By comparison, the Rays, who lead the division, went 18-1 against the lowly Birds this season.
With the win, the Yankees remained 6.5 games behind the Rays in the American League East and maintained their 1.5-game lead over the Red Sox for the top AL wild-card spot.
It was Stanton’s second hit of the night, his first being a 424 homer to left-center field in the fourth inning that marked his 26th of the year. That was the first hit the Yankees got off Orioles starter John Means. DJ LeMahieu brought in the second run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly.
It was Stanton’s eighth career walk-off hit and his second of the season. He also had the walk-off hit on May 9 against the Nationals.
“The bigger moment, the bigger you’ve got to step up,” said Stanton, who has reached base in 27 of his last 28 games.
With one out in the bottom of the 10th, LeMahieu singled to drive in Tyler Wade to tie the game. It was the first run the Yankees had scored in five innings against the Orioles bullpen, which came into the game with the worst ERA (5.44) in baseball.
Joey Gallo popped out on a foul ball to third base and the Orioles brought in Dillon Tate to face Aaron Judge. The slugger lined out to first base to send the game to the 11th.
Clay Holmes worked around a Ramon Urias leadoff single to get the Yankees to the bottom of the 11th tied at 3-3.
The Orioles got their game-tying run against an unlikely foe.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, Jonathan Loaisiga had a change-up hang and former Yankees prospect Jorge Mateo smacked it into the left-field seats to tie the game at 2. Arguably the Yankees’ most reliable reliever this season, Loaisiga had not allowed a home run since May 7. It was just the third he had given up this season.
That spoiled yet another strong start from Nestor Cortes, who is forcing his way into the Yankees’ playoff plans. Cortes allowed one run — a Trey Mancini home run in the sixth — over 5 2/3 innings pitched. He struck out a career high-tying seven for the third time this season.
After giving Mateo a one-out walk in the ninth, Aroldis Chapman struck out Kelvin Gutierrez and Austin Wynns to get the Yankees into the bottom of the ninth tied.
While Yankees manager Aaron Boone talked about keeping the pressure on the Rays for the division title, the Yankees are also looking ahead. They are thinking about how to line up their roster for October. Before Friday night’s game, Boone said they are likely going to insert a sixth starter into the rotation this week as a way to keep their starters’ arms fresh down the stretch. Already fans and analysts are debating the Yankees starters for a potential wild card and division series Game 1.
Cortes doesn’t factor into either of those spots, but he certainly could be an effective option out of the bullpen or as an opener.
Since taking over a rotation spot because of injuries to Domingo German and Corey Kluber, Cortes has been a crucial part of holding the Yankees rotation together. In nine starts, he is 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA.
“He’s awesome, fun to watch,” Yankees’ fellow lefty Jordan Montgomery said. “He just goes out there and competes, trusting the stuff there is everything for strikes and puts us in a good position most of the time.”